Chapter 9
Chapter 9: Empty
Years passed, and eventually, Sasuke returned to the village. He was ten years old.
But when Sasuke walked back into the Uchiha compound, something was wrong. There was no joyous reunion, no warmth in the air. It was as if he had never been gone.
He came back with a smile, a laugh, and an easygoing attitude, but Itachi could see through the façade. Sasuke had returned, yes, but he was no longer the boy who had looked up to him. No longer the boy who had once pestered him to play or trained alongside him, wanting to get stronger. No, this Sasuke was distant—too distant.
What had happened to him? Itachi couldn’t shake the feeling that the Sasuke who had disappeared five years ago wasn’t the same Sasuke who had returned.
Sasuke never spoke of the years he had spent away. He never mentioned where he’d been, or why he had vanished so suddenly. It was as if those five years never happened. But no one seemed to question it. The Uchiha clan was just relieved that their youngest member was back. They didn’t seem to care where he had been or what he had done. But Itachi did.
Despite his cheerful demeanor, Sasuke was hiding something—something dark. Itachi wasn’t sure if it was trauma or something more sinister, but there was no mistaking that his brother was carrying a weight that wasn’t there before. Itachi had asked Rin, Obito, Shisui, and Kakashi to keep an eye on him, to be alert when he wasn’t around. They had agreed, though they too noticed something was off, but like everyone else, they didn’t press Sasuke. After all, he was home now, and that was supposed to be enough.
But Itachi couldn’t shake the unease that gnawed at him. The Sasuke he remembered—his little brother, the one who had begged to learn shuriken jutsu, who had dreamed of growing stronger with fireball techniques, was gone. The boy who returned was quieter, more withdrawn. And then came the day that shook Itachi to his core.
Sasuke had asked Rin to teach him medical ninjutsu.
Itachi stood frozen at the doorway when he heard those words. Rin had always been the one with the most patience for Sasuke, but medical ninjutsu? It didn’t make sense. Sasuke had never shown interest in such quiet, healing techniques before. The old Sasuke had always wanted to fight, to throw fireballs and learn the most destructive jutsu. To hear that he wanted to study the subtle, controlled art of healing was a jarring shift.
Itachi felt something stir inside him, a strange discomfort that was hard to place. It wasn’t just that Sasuke wanted to learn something different; it was the intensity behind it. Sasuke wasn’t just a child anymore. His desires, his ambitions, his way of thinking—they had changed. The boy who had once only wanted power, who had once dreamed of becoming strong enough to avenge his clan, was now seeking something entirely different.
The calmness in Sasuke's request seemed almost deliberate. Itachi watched from the shadows as Rin smiled and nodded, offering to teach him. But it wasn’t just Rin’s reaction that bothered him. It was the way Sasuke’s eyes glinted with something darker, something more calculating than before. His hunger for knowledge, the thirst to learn something that wasn’t about battle or strength—there was an emptiness in it.
Itachi couldn’t explain it, but it felt wrong.
He remembered the day of the massacre in the old timeline. Seven-year-old Sasuke had only cared about one thing: learning shuriken techniques, impressing their father. He had been innocent then, driven by childish enthusiasm. Now, Sasuke was driven by something else. Something that Itachi couldn’t quite comprehend. It wasn’t just about getting stronger anymore. It was about control—about something deeper that lay hidden beneath his quiet exterior.
Itachi knew something had changed in Sasuke, but he didn’t know what. His brother wasn’t just acting differently—he was different. But why? What had happened to Sasuke during the years he’d been gone? And why didn’t he talk about it? What was he hiding?
As Sasuke continued to show interest in medical ninjutsu, Itachi couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that there was more at play than just the boy growing up. Whatever Sasuke had seen, whatever had happened to him during those five years, it was leaving a mark on him that could never be erased.
Itachi had made a promise to protect his brother, to save him from the darkness that had once consumed their family. But now, he wasn’t sure if Sasuke needed protection anymore—or if it was Itachi who needed to understand what had truly happened to his brother.
The empty smile on Sasuke’s face was a mask, and Itachi wasn’t sure if it was a mask he could ever lift.